News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-09-08
Interesting Letter from our oregon
Correspondent.
PORTLAND Or Aupust 9

PORTLAND, Or, August %, 'S7.
MeSSrs. Editors:
Astoria, at the mouth of the Column
bia river, is in many respects very
place. The business por-
ton is built on piles driven far out in
to the shallow river. From the shore
the hills rise abruptly, covered by
dense growth of timber. 1t is about
this timber that l wish to say a few
words. At present the salmon can
ming interests so overshadow the lum-
Der interests that little is heard about
these vast forests. But the time is
soon coming when the salmon OF the
Columbia will be no more, through
the recklessness and greed of the can
merry men, then the turn of these for
ests will come to be wiped out by the
same process. For a hundred miles
around Astoria the country is an I'M
broken forest. 1t is so dense that a
horse cannot be ridden through it. 1t
is composed of fir, spruce and cedar.
A good share of these trees are not
large, but there are from IS to 70
trees to the acre that are magnificent.
They tower hundreds Of feet above
the underground, measuring from : to
9 feet in diameter at the butt. Fires
never sweep through these forests as
it does further inland, for a dense
ocean fog rolls over the country most
of the time, keeping everything damp.
Emptying into the Columbia at short
intervals are small streams, or sloughs.
The first of them is the John Day
river, and around it, perhaps, is the
most magnificent lumber district in
the world. About two million feet a
year are now cut here. On the next
river, four million feet. on the next,
called Big Creek, about 20 millions,
in the next, or Westport district,
about twenty-five millions. These,
however, are mere hackings on the
edge of the forest. The road through
these forests looks like an aisle cut
through solid timber. At Young's
Bay a railroad is used to bring out the
logs. The trees fall with crash that
seems to shake the earth, are cut into
lengths and "snaked'' by means OF
five yoke of oxen to the railroad, and
there put on fiat cars. These roads
are rude affairs constructed of old
material and cost about $4,000 pei
mile. When the district through
which the road runs is exhausted the
road can quite easily be built in an
other. There are in and about Asto-
ria FIVE mills, each having a capacity
of $4,000 feet per day. The logs are
also RATED and towed up to Portland,
where they find ready market. The
coast logs command higher price
than those cut up the country, they
being sounder and freer from knots
and shakes. The market for manu-
featured lumber is local, San Francis
co, Sandwich Islands, Australia, Chi
ma and New leland. The manufactur-
ing will ultimately be done at Asto-
ria. 1t has many advantages over
Portland because of its position, over
the sound because of its freedom from
the toredo, a little insect which
swarms in the sound waters, render
ing in very short time all wood I'M
der water worthless. 1t is necessary
to cover the piles driven in the sound
with copper sheathing, or in a short
time they are completely destroyed.
Astoria will have railroad connection
in few years, and setting, as it does,
at the mouth of one of the grandest
waterways in the world. l can see no
reason why it should not become a
prosperous place. But notwithstand-
ing the vast natural advantages of the
country, the man in the East who i'm
AGNES he has only to come to this ell
dorado of lumbermen to make his for
tune, will find himself badly mistaken
Every foot of this vast district has
been "grabbed" and is held by CAPT
talists. Some of them are under in
dictment in the United States Courts
for fraud, but they will hold the tim.
Der lands just the same. 1t is a sac
fact that on this coast the law is pow,
erless when pitted against capital
The salmon are being scooped out Of
the rivers and destroyed in spite o.
the law, and the timber will fare nc
better. There is absolutely no chance
for a man with small means. He
must either command large capital OIL
work for two dollars day for some
one who has the money. There is nc
more favorable situation for ship
building than Astoria. The hard,
sound timber of the coast is especial.
ly adapted to this industry. predict
that in the future Astoria will be the
principal city north of San Francisco.
Portland has failed to grasp her op-
portunities and will fall behind. The
competition will be between Astoria
at the mouth of the Columbia, and
Seattle, on the Sound. Doctor.